Do you like road trips? The truth of the matter is, I do not. That’s because I would like to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible! We live in South Carolina, but our families are in Miami. Every time we plan a trip to visit our beloved hometown, I beg my husband to put up the cash for airline tickets. The alternative being twelve hours in a car packed with suitcases and two bickering children. No thank you! Just get me on a plane and get me to my destination as quickly as possible!
When You’re Distracted in the Desert of Life
The Israelites were no different. No sooner had God miraculously rescued them from Egypt than the Israelites got distracted by their hardships.
There are scholars who believe that the journey from Egypt, where the Israelites were freed, to the Promised Land could have taken days, weeks, maybe a month or so. But because they kept getting distracted from God’s faithfulness—over and over and over—they wandered that desert for forty years before God felt they were ready to enter their new home.
Why God Allows Us to Stay Distracted in the Desert
You see, we want to get to our destination as quickly as possible, but God cares about the journey. Of course, he also cares for the destination. God has a plan and purpose for your life—but he cares more about conforming you into the image of Jesus. This is our sanctification—our process of becoming like Jesus.
Here is the inescapable and sometimes maddening truth: The wilderness is a place where God transforms us. Part of that transformation is teaching us to resist the distracting temptations that draw us away from God.
Maybe you’ve never wandered the desert before, but we can likely all relate to feeling stuck in a barren land, facing what feel like insurmountable odds.
I felt that way during a season of life when I was looking for a job. I had fallen into the stay-at-home-mom gig on accident. We had moved to a new city just as I found out I was pregnant and, well, unfortunately, most businesses were not keen on hiring a pregnant lady. We moved again during my second pregnancy and at that point it seemed easier to stay at home with my babies than work outside the home.
After a while, finances were tight! I knew I needed to find a job where I could contribute financially, but all I heard were rejections or crickets. I felt at the end of my rope wondering why God had forgotten me and my family. I worked a lot of odd jobs with seemingly no direction and no prospects for growth. The debt grew and my husband and I felt despair. How would we get out of this? How would we provide for our young family?
Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” Sounds bleak! But let’s read the verse in full: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV).
Sometimes when we go through difficult times, our circumstances can distract us from who God is and what God has promised. In their own time of trouble, the Israelites chose grumbling. Fortunately for them (and for us!), our God is not changed by our thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. He is faithful, even when we are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13).
Finding God’s Faithfulness When Distracted in the Desert
I’ll admit I didn’t have a lot of faith in the season I described above. I felt angry and abandoned. I took my eyes off of Jesus and set them squarely on our pile of bills and my unused seminary degree collecting dust in a closet. But little by little, God began to show himself faithful. His provision didn’t always look like how I wanted it to look (I found a part-time job eventually . . . as an accountant at a small freight company . . . and let me tell you, this writer does not do math), but he did provide. I remember having a hard conversation one day that involved a very hard no and walking out feeling at peace because I knew it wasn’t the end of the story. God had more for our family even if I didn’t know what it was yet. The same is true for you. If you’re still breathing, God’s not done. There’s more.
Pray with Me:
Loving Father, we know that you are always with us. Although we
are promised suffering in this world, we are also promised your
presence. When we are tempted to grumble, when we become
distracted, help us to hold on to the truth that you are always with us.
Let us not long to return to Egypt, to the shackles of sin, but to press
on and choose you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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Adapted from A Way in the Wilderness by Kristel Acevedo. ©2025 by Kristel Acevedo. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.
